


Don't forget the shards

by NoTomorrow



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Action/Adventure, Antivan Crows, Antivan inquisitor, Antivan inquisitor/Dalish first, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/F, F/M, Falling In Love, Inquisitor with a past, Links to DA2, M/M, Non-Inquisitor Lavellan, OC/OC - Freeform, Romance, Romance comes late in the fic, Sarcasm, Slow Burn, Snark, Sneaky burn, non-inquisitor trevelyan - Freeform, not only the inquisitor survives
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-10
Updated: 2015-08-10
Packaged: 2018-04-14 00:49:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4543794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoTomorrow/pseuds/NoTomorrow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Luna Belmonte was an advocate for the Antivan crows and set up to keep track of the going-ons in the Temple of Sacred Ashes. Unfortunately, the thing is blown to smithereens and Luna is left to pick up the pieces. She can't return to Antiva to finish her report to the crows, she has a eerily green mark on her hand and she is mind-blown by the very little organisation the Chantry seems to have in a chaos like this. It all seems too much for someone like her. After a life of shadows, people now bend their knee before her. The multicultural organisation that the inquisition is, however, pleases her greatly... and in many ways.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't forget the shards

"You can hear the fighting! We're almost there." the woman behind her yelled. She just couldn't believe her luck today, what with getting imprisoned, getting looked at as if she had the plague and judged as such, _and_ getting yelled at by the obnoxious woman behind her. That was one fervent believer if she ever saw one. She never really understood the chantry, and she never will. The crows had no need for that. They carried their abilities like swords and used them as they saw fit. A far more straightforward world, if it came to Luna.

The snow beneath her feet crunched as she tried to lumber up the uneven stairs that were still going up. She might as well ask what this woman was going on about. She couldn't even remember her name... She sighed and, resigned, asked her question. " _Who_ is fighting, exactly? Soldiers? Templars?" more things that spontaneously dropped out of the sky? She sincerely hoped it was one of the former. She longed to put her sword through real flesh instead of smoky green shadows and she'd rather have red blood on her than the black gooey stuff she was sporting on her tunic now.

"You'll see soon enough," the woman said, and Luna couldn't miss the exasperated note in her voice. This woman was quite the serious lady, Luna figured. No questions then. Just silence. Let's see how that plays out for miss hack and slash over there. "we must help them." she added.

I kept my mouth shut as we reached the top and had to jump off a ledge that wasn't too far down. There were tiles along the edge and the snow had been shuffled by many feet passing, which had made it a grey, icky mess. The Frostback mountains were truly a sight to behold, but _coño_ , the snow she could certainly live without. She carefully stepped to the side to a spot where the snow was still white and garantueed a more graceful descent. Hopping down, she didn't care to look back at the woman shouting orders at her all morning. She could get down just fine, she knew. Luna had seen it in the way she fought and the way she dodged swipes of a pair of claws. She was a practiced fighter, though very blunt and rather blind, she had to admit. While Luna was someone to sneak up behind a man and slit his throat without leaving a clue as to who had done it, the short-haired woman at her back was not. She was one to march into battle yelling. Not her thing, Luna thought.

A bit further from the wall she just jumped off were indeed a few people fighting. She saw a green, glowing ball barely miss the dwarf shooting bolts from his crossbow, and stepped in to dissapear in a cloud of smoke. Her cloak evaporated the moment her daggers sliced through the smoky green wisp before her. For all their brute strength and little magic, they were rather stupid. She twirled and sprung, slicing her daggers through the ghosts of beings on her path. It was rather like a dance with rythm, getting up, dissapearing, moving behind a target, crossing her blades and back again. It was soothing, right up until she saw the dwarf pointing his crossbow straight at her. She ducked and made herself scarce the moment the bolt left his shooter.

"Knew you'd avoid that!" the dwarf giddily called after her. Looking behind her, she saw a rumpled mass of claws sinking to the ground. _Qué asco..._ At least the dwarf could aim.

The mass he had just shot had been the last of them, for now. She felt someone firmly grab her wrist an drag it up, and as she turned to see who had had the nerve, an elf twisted her wrist to the smaller rift above them. "Quick, before more come through!" he yelled, and a feeling of energy being sucked out of the air surrounded her, as a booming crack closed the rift. Smaller pieces of the gap in the sky fell soundlessly to the icy tiles below. Luna waved her hand, still reeling from the odd feeling that had gone through her.

"What...how did you...?" she asked the mage.

"I'm not the one who did anything. The credit is yours." he nodded at the hand she was stretching out before her. As if she'd do that. The world was weird enough without her being able to close rifts. She knew the eery glow in her hand was trouble. She glanced at the bald elf before her, quietly trying to explain the situation. He reminded her of an old tutor she once had back in Antiva. He too had been too calm and knowing. She remembered the day they took him away from her, resignation etched upon his face. He had been a traitor to the crows.

"Are you sure? It's not just you?" she pointed at him, trying to convince him she had nothing to do with this.

"Whatever magic opened the breach in the sky also placed that magic upon your hand," he answered. "I theorized the mark might be able to close the rifts in the breach's wake, and it seems I was correct."

The ragtag elf just stood there, seemingly quite proud of his assumption _that could have killed her._ Dabbling in magic had never been her thing. What if it had gone wrong? She swore she'd get him back somehow for his rash behaviour, even though it had helped. What could she say, she held grudges.

"-meaning it could also close the breach _itself._ " the woman behind her mused, coming up behind Luna. She was, in truth, quite terrifying. Big steps, brash, strong-willed and strong in her form. That's when Luna remembered the origin of the armor she wore - the woman was a seeker. A diligent chantry believer. No wonder she had sounded so broken up when she talked about the death of the divine.

"Possibly," the elf countered, "It seems you hold the key to our salvation." He cocked his head at her, studying her. She rather disliked the feeling.

"Ah, and here I thought we'd be ass-deep in demons forever!" the dwarf piped up, cleaning little black blood spatters off his crossbow. It was odd for Luna to look down, as she wasn't very used to dwarves. They did seem to veer away from Antiva, for whatever reasons. Too hot, perhaps?

The dwarf reached her and looked up, throwing her a little grin as he ceremoniously bowed and added: "Varric Thethras - rogue, storyteller, and ocassionally, unwelcome tagalong." At the latter he winked at the woman beside her, earning a dissatisfied grunt.

"I take it you are not, by any means, part of the chantry? I don't recall them fighting with a crossbow, if anything." Luna snickered. Varric lit up and grinned back at her.

The elf, now standing beside the woman she just couldn't recall the name of, chuckled. "That wasn't a serious question, was it?"

"I have to say they're not so fond of my... free lifestyle." the dwarf added, pursing his lips. She liked the dwarf in his clouded honesty. That was exactly the way she liked people. "But...no. Technically, I'm a prisoner, just like you." he fiddled with his gloves as he threw a sideways glance at the seeker.

"I brought you here to tell your story to the divine. Clearly, that is no longer possible, nor necessary." the woman spoke up with a quieter tone. Luna was surprised the woman could talk quietly, she hadn't heard her speak at a normal volume the entire day.

"Yet here I am. Lucky for you, considering the unfortunate circumstances." the dwarf countered, shrugging his shoulders. Luna didn't know what had happened between the two of them, but she figured it wasn't the right time to ask.

"Varric, huh? I think I like you already, _amigo._ " she smiled down at him. The elf behind her laughed in earnest this time, earning a small smile from Varric.

"You might want to reconsider that stance, in time." the elf mused.

"Oh, I'm sure we'll become great friends in the valley too, chuckles." Varric said. He seemed to be rather aloof and easy-going. She couldn't put a finger on the elf's character, however. Smug in a way, yes. Arrogant, not really. It was odd to not be able to dissect a person's character straight away.

The seeker seemed ruffled as she approached Varic angrily. "Absolutely not! Your help is appreciated, Varric, but-" The seeker sure looked put-off.

"Have you been in the valley lately, seeker? Your soldiers are not in control anymore. You _need_ me." The dwarf had such a shit-eating grin on his face, she could have sworn the seeker would lose her nerve and kill him right then and there. Instead, the seeker turned on her heel and let out an exasperated grunt, again. She was one for the irritated noises, apparently.

The elf spoke up again, making Luna look up from the fight between the two. "If there are to be introductions, my name is Solas. I'm pleased to see you still live." His tone was relaxed and surprised at the same time, at which Luna arched an eyebrow. Varric nudged her in the side.

"He means: I kept that mark from killing you while you slept."

Well. At least the odd elf that didn't quite seem like a city elf to her had his heart in the right place. In a manner of speaking. "Then I suppose I should thank you. I just hope it won't be in vain." she answered the statement.

"Indeed. You may thank me when closing the breach doesn't kill you." Solas answered in very much the same tone. As if her life wasn't on the line here. He turned to the seeker. "Cassandra, you should know that the magic involved here is unlike any I have ever seen," Ah, so that was her name. She was quite happy to know at last. "Your prisoner is no mage. However, I find it hard to imagine any mage at all having such power."

"Understood," Cassandra said. "we must get to the forward camp quickly." At that, she started walking off. Trotting was perhaps a better description, as she never seemed to walk at a normal pace. It was as if the woman was inherently stressed out and always needed somewhere to be at that exact moment. Now that was a woman who could use a little relaxation.

"Well," Varric piped up again next to her, "at least Bianca's excited!" Bianca? Apparently, he had seen the question hovering in the air as he pointed at the crossbow on his back. His bow had a _name?_ Ferelden was getting stranger by the second. She resigned herself to follow the group down the wreckage of the temple and trudged through the snow to catch up to them.

To Luna's utter dissapointment, there were no _real_ creatures to kill the whole way through the valley. One fade monster after another, and they seemed to just keep on coming. Honestly, she was getting rather sick of them.

As they cleared another space of monsters all situated on top of a frozen river, they moved onwards to another staircase leading up, to increasingly bigger debris of houses and temples. The breach had destroyed a lot, even she had to admit that. If whoever behind this only had the objective to destroy the temple, they overkilled by a major amount. The group passed houses that were still lit aflame and crumbling down on themselves, demonstrating the horror of the breach. Luna hoped the families had gotten out in time... but life is never that kind. They passed a small doll buried in the snow, bloodsplatters evident. She saw Cassandra glance at it in passing, and she might've imagined it, but it seemed as if the seeker's face dropped at the sight, making her brow crease just a little tighter. Cassandra seemed to take the destruction of everything around them in stride, but an underlying feeling told Luna she was far more affected by the chaos than she let on.

"So," the dwarf climbed the stairs behind her, looking at her quizzically. She slowed her gait for a moment, but kept up the fast pace. " _are_ you innocent?"

"I don't remember, but really, do I look like someone that would open a breach?"

He chuckled. "That'll get you every time. And... no. You don't seem the type."

"Please elaborate. I'd love to know what type I am!" she responded with glee evident in her voice.

"Ah, you'd be the one to kill people in their sleep. This? Too flashy." He pointed at the green swirl above us.

"Very observant. It is indeed rather gaudy." Her smile had returned to her face and she grinned while she looked at the dwarf behind her. The snow made it harder for the dwarf to keep up with the long legs of the others, but he made do just fine. The elf - Solas, she remembered - who was running ahead of her looked back at the pair, smiling slightly. So even he could laugh. That just leaves the seeker. Varric sighed, now next to her.

"Should've spun a story, though. The chantry doesn't believe anyone saying they don't remember. They're nice like that." he added.

Cassandra's irritated voice took on an even more exasperated tone as she spoke to answer him.

"That's what _you_ would have done."

The dwarf had apparently seen this coming, as he countered with "It's more believable, and less prone to result in premature execution." Cassandra grumbled at that. She had a knack for grumbling, it seemed.

Eventually, they reached another set of doors that lead to a stone bridge. The soldiers truly had set up camp everywhere they could manage. More points to rest and replenish, smart move. Luna walked through the makeshift camp, earning a lot of shifty eyes and confused looks. An _Antivan,_ they must've thought. It wasn't hard to make that assumption, either. With her darker skin tone and dark brown hair, she must've looked the part. Her eyes were something that confused people, though. It wasn't often that Antivans had steely grey eyes instead of the warm brown everyone was used to. Courtesy of her father, those.  
After checking with the other soldiers whether she could take them, she collected a few extra health potions to get by. You never know what might come next in the neverending horde of creatures. Not only that, she wasn't very used to open combat. She was used to keeping to the shadows.

The two people Cassandra was walking towards were arguing quite loudly, gaining the attention of several on-lookers. The group stopped at the table and Luna surveyed them both, a man with robes that clearly spelled he was with the chantry and a woman who was partially hidden by her purple shawl.

"Ah, here they come." The chantry cleric spoke up, disdain seeping from every word.

"You made it! Chancellor Roderick, this is-" The woman adressed Cassandra and me. She seemed a bit more amiable than the man next to her, looking at Luna as if she was the very filth of the streets.

"I know who she is," he spoke over her, "and as grand chancellor of the chantry, I hereby order you to take this criminal to Val Royeaux to face execution!" That was a bit rich. She'd gone and helped these people by killing quite a bunch of demons, she'd been dragged around and shunned, and now she had to be executed? Scratch Ferelden being weird. Ferelden was _bonkers._

Cassandra, however, looked livid. "Order _me?_ You are a glorified clerk. A bureaucrat! I outrank you in every possible way, _chancellor._ " Luna was surprised to see Cassandra get so heated. She had been prickly and seemed forever irritated, yes, but not like this.

"And _you_ are a thug, but a thug who supposedly serves the chantry!" He countered. Luna was getting tired of this man, fast. She'd love to see _him_ slaving on the battlefield like the seeker did.

The woman in her shawl looked up, revealing a pretty face and chin-length red hair. "We serve the most holy, chancellor," she chastised him, "as you well know."

"Justinia is dead! We must elect a replacement, and obey her orders on the matter."

All that seemed obvious to Luna was that this situation was starting to look like a bunch of headless chickens bumping into each other. The chantry even gave people trouble when it was pretty much obliterated. She heaved a sigh as she boredly stated "So, If I'm getting this right, _no one_ is in charge here?"

This made the chancellor burst into flames, in a manner of speaking. "You _killed_ everyone who was in charge!" He heaved before he adressed Cassandra again. "Call a retreat, seeker. Our position here is hopeless." This time, he looked defeated and beaten, though with the same annoyance present in his tone.

"We can solve this before it is too late." she told him. Her hand rested on the table in a reassuring gesture.

"How?" The chancellor asked. "You won't survive long enough to reach the temple, even with all your soldiers."

"We have to. Through the valley is the quickest route to the temple. We _will_ make it."

The redhead placed her hand on Cassandra's shoulder. "But not the safest. you can take the mountain pass while the troops serve as a distraction in the valley."

"No, we already lost contact with an entire squad on that path. It's too risky." Just like Luna predicted, Cassandra wanted to yell and throw herself into a mindless battle before she ever took the better route.

"Seeker. Give this up now before even more lives are lost!" Roderick pleaded.

Negotiations as to _where the hell_ everyone should go came to a shuddering halt as the breach expanded again and made the glow in her hand brighter. It had started aching recently, but this was like a searing pain crawling up her arm, making her fingers numb. Her breath hitched as they heard the boom of the breach above. Cassandra faced her, looking - dare she say it - a bit pitiful. "Tell me. How do you think we should proceed?"

Luna laughed openly at this and stared at the stunned face of Cassandra before she said "Me? I thought I was the prisoner? You know, no say in things, about to be executed and so on?" She snorted. If it were possible, the seeker looked even more pitying right then. "I know that we have made rash assumptions, but they were logical ones." she said, still using a firm tone. "If you are really innocent and you want to prove it, I'm curious in your input." Luna had to admit that for all her brawn, she did still have a brain in there. Again, smart woman.

"The mountain path seems like the better route now. Let the forces handle the hordes of demons, we can handle the stragglers up in the mountains." Cassandra nodded, though she still seemed more inclined to go for the shorter route.

"The mountains it is, then."

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> First decently uploaded fic ever. This was more a warm-up than a real start to the story, as the story arc only really commences in the next chapter. It's rather fun to explore the ways all the characters might react!
> 
> If you've got any pointers at all, tell me. This truly is my first fic, so every help is welcome!


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